PSP Review – Super Stardust Portable

December 16, 2008
Written by Adam Wolfe

On Dec. 4th Super Stardust Portable was released for Download on PSN. For those that have not played Super Stardust HD, basically you are protecting a planet from meteors (made of gold, ice & rock) on top of dealing with smaller enemies and of course bosses. You fly around shooting everything using three different weapons. All three weapons will destroy everything, but they all have their strengths against certain material. You also are supplied with a limited amount of bombs and boost.

Now getting to Super Stardust Portable. If you loved the SSHD you will love this one. The controls will take some time to get used too. The nub moves your ship, the face buttons fire your weapon, X = down, O = right and so on. Now if you combine to buttons say X and O you will shoot at an angle down and to the right. Also with the flame if you hold all four face buttons you will shoot it in a circular motion. The direction pad changes weapons and the triggers are for boost and bombs. This all seems like it will be difficult and compared to SSHD it takes some time learning it, but it actually works quite well and in no time you will be blasting through hundreds of meteors.

You have the same five planets as in SSHD but instead of it zoomed way out to look like you are flying around the globe, it is laid down flat. Now it still works like you are flying around a planet. If you are fighting the boss and you try and fly the opposite way from him you will run in to him eventually. It basically feels like your zoomed in a lot more even though the ship is still relatively small.

The game has some of the same modes. Arcade which you start on planet one and just go through each planet until you complete it. Planet mode where you can just select the planet of your choice and a new mode called Impact. This mode is rather fun. It is like the bomber mode in SSHD where you only have bombs to use, but the catch with this one is you have a new boost called impact boost. Basically its the same boost, but when you use it and hit enemy’s you will continue to boost until you do not hit anything. At that time you can continue flying around using bombs till roughly 10 – 20 sec later when your boost is recharged and you can use it all over again. This concept is a blast and is perfect for short bursts of playing.

In closing if you like SSHD and have a PSP this is a must buy. It is only $9.99 and is well worth the purchase. This should supply hours of intense fast paced fun. Plus, this is a great game for those short bursts of gaming on the bus. I would have rated it higher, but didn’t because the controls will take some time getting used to. Either way, it’s comparable to its PS3 predecessor in terms of fun factor.